Saskia de Melker

Saskia’s Recent Stories

This week, the New Jersey State Supreme Court overturned, by a vote of 6-0, the attempted murder conviction of an aspiring rapper and small-time drug dealer named Vonte Skinner, arguing that the extensive reading of Skinner’s violent rap lyrics during…

The case against Vonte Skinner hinged primarily on two eyewitnesses, though their stories had changed several times. Near the end of the trial, the prosecution introduced 13 pages of violent rap lyrics to demonstrate Skinner’s motive and intent to commit…

NewHour’s investigation into how the Netherlands has managed the sale of pot for 40 years illustrated that laws and regulations governing marijuana are often in flux. Use the timeline below to see how both nations have changed their…

According to the Associated Press reports, police in southern Germany raided the homes of nine elderly men suspected of serving as Schutzstaffel, or SS for short, guards at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp during World War II. Three men were…

The film "Tricked" follows people impacted by the sex trade across the United States: from the young women and their families who share stories of abuse and manipulation, to the pimps who openly speak of how they traffic these women.

View slideshow of the two Lebanese neighborhoods in Tripoli. TRIPOLI, Lebanon -- Walk the streets of the adjacent neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in the Lebanese city of Tripoli and you will find some similarities. Many businesses are…